Grover

I didn't post this originally because I thought the build was so poor that it didn't even deserve to be here, but now I've added a humorous picture at the end of the thread, so enjoy!

Oh wow! That angle looks totally awesome, like from a movie!

What an awesome build! I love that tree, and combined with the olive stalks and the dirt, it really gives the idea of fall. I love the doors, statuary, and the detail around them. It makes me think a lot of the LoTR dwarves. Are there any other angles? I didn't see any on Flickr. I'd be interested to see the guards. Great job, and welcome here!

This is amazing. I think this may be my favorite of the rebuild challenge, for a lot of reasons combined. There's a lot of great builds here, but this one not only has amazing detail in almost every aspect (the roofing joists under the shingles, the nice hamster wheel crane, the scaffolding, the landscape, etc.), but it's got a great throwback to the black falcons. If this were a set from TLG, I'd buy it without question. Would be a nice start to a modular castle line!

I really like this a lot. First, I will say that I didn't mind the dark background, as its texture made it look like a mountainside or something, perhaps where they got all their dark stone from. Secondly, there's a lot of great things going on here. I like the color choices--not many people build out of the dark grey, and I think it really adds a different mood here. I also appreciate that you didn't litter the working area where the people have obviously trod for so long with plants. It's unrealistic to me to see a bunch of grass in the middle of a road. I also like that you immediately went to higher plants on the border of the work area. In an area with a lot of foliage, it's realistic to have an abrupt change to higher plant life. In an area like Kaliphlin, it would be unrealistic, but here it makes it look like an area with good rainfall and nice growth (i.e., Mitgardia or Avalonia). The pine tree is nice, and the birches are great. Makes you wish that TLG had a yellow foliage part like alt bricks, as the birches could easily become aspens. The stacked boxes and barrels in the background are quite nice as well. Very well done, and I look forward to your next build!

I think this is one of my favorite town gates. The swivel bases as decoration near the roof peaks, the great high sloped roofs, the hoardings, the vaulted door frames, the level of detail with posing minis in the rebuild, the great color choices and the use of the portcullis piece really all speak to a lot of thought that went into this, and it shows. I like the olive mixed with green on the grass, and the subtle slope of the batter at the bottom of the wall is a very nice touch that may be noticed by the subconscious, but lends to a much more realistic scene. Keep up the awesome work!

Gorgeous build! The roof is awesome, the tiny details like the columns, and even the quarter circle and macaroni tiles by the fountain add detail in a subtle way. You have also built one of the few holes that I think looks realistic. The posing of the minis is awesome, and I think you have achieved an excellent level of detail without being cluttered. The inclusion of the dark green under the bushes that is slightly sunk provides a great shadow effect where there would be less/different grass from the lack of sunlight. Really well done!

I'm actually more intrigued by the story than the build. The mystery is great! As for the build, it has that barren Kaliphlin feel to it, but I'm not exactly sure what I'm looking at in terms of the statue. Perhaps that's part of the mystery and your intent, however, so I will wait patiently for the next build and more to be revealed...

Very nice! I love the slate roof tiles, the overall architecture and layout (the height difference and L shape are great) and the detail in the basement. The level of thought and detail that have gone into this are fantastic. Great job!

The overall color scheme is great, and the timber frame is ingenious. Building with traditional methods (studs on top) would not have allowed for such a proportional frame I think. As for the size, I think it's quite plausible to have a smaller footprint and taller structure up north--much less heating required. Fantastic work!

Very cool! I like how you have incorporated the historic aspects of castle building into your work. I think that medieval France used more advanced techniques, like the hamster wheel crane, whereas other places used putlog holes and ramps, but I believe there was a mix, and even use of a flywheel by the 1100-1200 range, so it's completely accurate. I like how you have the stonecutters, the awesome use of the brown chairs for the wagon slats (this is ingenious), and the scaffolding around the round tower. All the aspects of the kiln and even the carpentry are great. The slope pieces making up the rock face might use a little more detail and variety if you want a more natural look, but the whole build is great. I love it!

I like it! There's a lot of clutter in parts, but it's due to the ruined nature of the building and the ongoing construction, so rather than detracting from the build as sometimes is the case, I think it actually lends to the nature of the scene here. I like the tree, too. One of the things that looks awesome to me that we don't see a ton is that spectacular border. That in itself is a work of art! I love the lush avalonian feel to the build and the detail, even inside. Well done!

This whole build looks good to me. I like the use of the solid colors for water, the elven tower has a great elven feel to me, and the new eagle looks great. Not entirely sure what the clear pieces are supposed to be up top, maybe glass? Overall very nice.

This is really stellar. Between the scaffolding, the small winch/crane, internal support beams, and the detail going on, this is excellent. Even the dark tan road being higher than the surrounding grass doesn't look that off since the grass slopes away and there is some higher grass (stalks) around it, making it appear (at least to my eye) that the road is actually at the apex of a hill, however slight. This is also a great use of the regular brick technique, showing that you can have a good level of detail without going to tons of SNOT and other techniques. Well done!

I felt the same way about my build--didn't have enough time. Despite that, there are some good things going on. I agree with Basilicus, in that it's nice to see the brown dirt lower than the green grass. I think the high level of detail in grass and other flora are usually neglected on short time frame builds like this (and mine--there's no detail in the grass there either). I think my favorite part is the guy with the screwdriver as a chisel. Very well done. As some of the others have said, better lighting can help. I built myself a little light box out of cardboard, an old wall calendar a few desk lamps, and some white spray paint, and it has made a HUGE difference. Something like that could be useful. Better pictures make people look more, regardless of build. Conversely, you can have an awesome build and no one will look at it because the lighting is poor. Hope to see more from you in the future!

Very nice! I like the level of detail, with laying the tile, rebuilding the roof, to using the punch/chisel on the door (the wand use is great). There seems to be a lot going on, so it might help the presentation to space things out a bit more. It almost seems too busy, but there are so many great things going on, it's hard to complain. Great job!

Thank you all for your encouragement. I am mostly frustrated with myself for not having the time to complete the MOC I wanted. My time is extremely limited these days. This will be a part of the larger build that is a WIP, but I'm going to have to make more time where I can over the coming weeks to get it done. This comment amused me and made me think, what would happen when the cameras get turned off? Is this like a Renaissance Festival where everyone is in period costume and uses period instruments while they are being watched and pulls out their cell phones when they are not? I went back and took a picture when they weren't looking, and wow, there is some 'magic' at work here...

Terrible, but extant.

With the weather warming, Lady Gwenllian decided to travel about to meet her neighbors. One of the nearest settlements was just down the coast from Prenmôr, the small fishing village of Flewd. Upon meeting with the town elders, Lady Gwenllian found that this village had been particularly hard hit by the drow raids (a terrible chapter in Avalonia's history that Lady Gwenllian was just learning about), losing almost half their population and over two-thirds of their buildings, including an ancient shrine to the sea-god, Neptune. Coupled with several seasons of poor fish harvests, the villagers had no money to rebuild and were beginning to starve. The sight of starving children and townsfolk broke Lady Gwenllian's heart, and she vowed to help the people of Flewd. Conferring with Lady Seren on the spot, she devised a way to help. Speaking to the village elders, she laid out her plan: Lady Gwenllian would help the villagers rebuild their homes in exchange for their work. She could afford to pay them to fish the waters around Prenmôr, and if the fishing was not good, they would have work as laborers helping to build her castle. They would use the money made from their fishing along with help from what coffers she had brought with her, to build new homes. Lady Gwenllian offered to let the villagers build new homes in Prenmôr as residents, or would rebuild their homes in Flewd, as they chose. The elders gathered a council of the entire village that evening, and Lady Gwenllian was invited. The villagers were grateful of Lady Gwenllian's offer, and after some discussion, the villagers were excited about the offer to move a short distance down the coast to continue their trade under the protection of a lord and a fortified town. Flewd held too many bad memories of loss, and its vulnerable position was highlighted by the drow raids. Most importantly, the villagers voted to move the ancient shrine to be rebuilt at Prenmôr. Lady Gwenllian agreed, and offered to find a dwarven sculptor to cut the main statuary out of stone and an elf to decorate the site surrounding the statue with copper scrollwork.

Thanks! I'm hoping to keep it going and let people see the progression as the castle is built. Thanks! High praise from you and your microscale builds! Thanks again for all your advice.

I'm guessing before we are notified who won the other categories of the Book II challenge, unless I just totally missed those notifications. I only saw the overall voting on the historica lore challenge.

Very cool. I think the wyvern coat of arms over the mantle is still one of my favorite aspects. The lighting is awesome. I like the story with the kids and Henjin getting older, too. Very nice work, as usual. :-)

I think this is a great example of a little being a lot. The lack of huge, tall buildings goes a long way to giving a sense of a more rural area, and it looks like a dry pasture like is seen in the american southwest a lot. The dark orange plant pieces in the brown tubs is a nice touch. I like the use of the ladder pieces for textured fences, too. The lady kind of looks 19th century to me, but I think that may just be the hat. Where is the dress piece from? I don't recognize it offhand. Great job!

Love the road. The smooth lines are superb. The level of detail on the stone walls is great, and I like the color choice--dark red, dark tan, some olive green... very well done. The interiors are fun, too. I think the sort of upside down boat roofs are a very distinctive style, too. Great job!

First, I would like to say I enjoyed the scene. I think it's a great representation of harvest time. I would second a few of the others' comments, however, with birds nesting in the trees (usually spring), green leaves on the trees (usually spring/summer), and the large amount of detail going on (can make it hard to see some aspects). I know it's hard to get some of the dark red and dark orange leaves for the trees, but swapping out those and removing the bird nests would help a lot for the idea of fall. I myself run into cluttering up scenes with too much detail, but perhaps some spacing out of the various workers would help. In any case, these are small details, and I really like a number of things in the scene: the windmill actually looks like a windmill (we have a lot of stumpy ones here that would never catch the wind), the pumpkin patch is great (I'm totally going to steal your pumpkin idea sometime), the stone road looks good, the use of the new Mt Clutchmore sign and the sign post is fantastic, and the action of the minis is superb. The top of the windmill has some nice detail on it as well. Over all, very nice work and I look forward to seeing more from you!